The United States faces a default on June 1. After the Treasury warned of a cash crunch to pay bills, President Joe Biden spoke to four senior congressional leaders, Reuters reports.
The president met with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Democratic Leader Hakim Jeffreys, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Earlier, Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a bill to raise the national debt ceiling. At the same time, Biden said he would not negotiate an increase in the figure, but was open to discussing budget cuts after a new limit is passed.
The potential default date is largely unchanged from January forecasts that the government could run out of funds by June 5.
Analysts say that if the country manages to survive early summer benefit payments, it will receive funds from quarterly tax payments by mid-June. The Treasury could borrow $143 billion later to pay bills through July.
Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said US debt is a ticking time bomb that will explode unless responsible action is taken.
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